A Brave's New World
by emeraldislegirl
Summary: ZA: R.J. Grimes journeys across the country with Michonne to find the mysterious voice on the radio. After all this time, RJ grew up thinking his father to be dead, so he wants the voice to be real, but their journey is not without peril. Will he lose a parent to chase a ghost? NOTE: I don't own the TWD / FTWD characters.


**A Brave's New World**

**A/N** I hear it already, what, another story and no new updates? They're coming but this is something I was toying with since I first saw R.J. last year. I guess it's about that time again because I see stuff on Tumblr and Twitter. I hope this makes the R.J. lovers happy.

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R.J. narrowly escaped the trap wire, which was set on the door of the last house he visited. If he was about two feet taller, he would be dead. The door was rigged to trigger the automatic weapon taped to a mounted post to fire once it opened. The gun continued to fire until such time the magazine emptied.

R.J. took to his heels and ran and continued doing so as fast as his little feet would take him because he knew the noise would draw any walkers in the vicinity to the location unless of course, something else distracted them. He was hoping that something else would not be him because he only had a gun and a dagger and the latter required extremely close contact.

He had been gone for approximately two hours now and was upset at himself for going as far as he had only to find nothing. All the boxes he found along the way were empty. He could not go back empty-handed because his mother was depending on him. He had to find medicine but everything was looted.

Being new to the area, his mother told him to keep it simple to follow a direct route, unless of course, he was forced to divert from the said route. He also had to be mindful of predators as well as walkers too. It was a lot of responsibility for a ten-year-old, but he was up to the task. But first and foremost, he needed for his luck to change. He needed to find some medicine to save his mom.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity under the Texan sun, R.J. arrived at yet another gas station which was several miles from where he actually left his mother, naturally, he veered off the route quite a bit, he had to. But a good thing too because he found a box and in it was some food and water but no medicine. He was hungry after the energy he spent trying to get away, so he helped himself to a couple of protein bars and a bottle of water then placed some in his backpack to take back to his mother.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside which caught his eye and caused him to conceal himself below the window. He and his mom were in the region for about three days now and this was the second group of humans he witnessed. Except these ones were kids, about his age. They were darting into the woods to hide from a young girl who carried some sort a cylindrical metal with a sharp edge and a black man with a two-toned wooden stick who appeared to be chasing them. The girl was calling after them. She didn't seem menacing at all, but people were rarely who they seem to be. Case in point, the Logan man who shot his mother because she refused to tell him where they were from and where the oil patch was, so he remained concealed his reason being, if these folks were indeed good, why were the children scurrying away from them?

Unfortunately, R.J. did not have to ponder his decision further because something crashed to the floor in the backroom and when he directed his attention towards the direction where the noise came from there was the signature shuffling of walkers' feet followed by their growls as they ambled towards what they saw as their next meal.

R.J. was forced to grab his backpack, slung it over his shoulder and abandon his hiding place rushing out into the open road. It seemed it just wasn't his day, nothing was going as planned for the young Grimes. He was now in the open and vulnerable. He could have disposed of the walkers with his gun but the sound would have brought more along with the man and the young girl too.

R.J. didn't like the idea of killing people but sometimes it had to be done. But to date, his mother was always the one to do it, she said, it was so that he could hold onto being a child a little while longer.

The problem with live food is that walkers tend to have an uncanny sense of smell or something because as R.J. laid tracks to get back to the main road, he picked up a small herd. A few minutes more and he would be around the bend. He was also a bit winded from the extra weight in his backpack. But as he glanced back over his shoulder to see whether he could slow down a bit, his body slammed into a brick wall, but when he looked in front of him, it was the black man who appeared from nowhere. It knocked the wind out of him.

The man's arms opened to catch the young boy from falling to the ground. "Hey, hold up, son."

R.J. pulled back, breathing heavily and screamed. "Lemme go!"

The man did as was asked of him and R.J. fell to the ground.

"I know you… I know your face."

R.J.'s head swivelled back and forth. "No. No, you don't."

By then, the young girl finally caught up with them after having dispatched the small herd which was heading their way.

"Everything, okay?" she asked a bit winded herself.

"Yes. I know him. He's not one of them." The man replied. "I know your face, son," he added turning back to R.J..

"No, you don't. I don't know you, Mister."

"I know your dad and your mom. They are good people. They are friends of mine. What are you doing so far away from home? Where are your folks?"

"What's my mom's name, Mister?"

Morgan chuckled. "Smart kid… Your mom's name is Michonne. She's the wife of my friend, Rick Grimes and you have a brother, Carl and a sister, Judith."

Hearing their names out loud caused tears to form in the corner of R.J.'s eyes. He shook his head, "No… there's only me and my mom now. I have to find medicine because she's hurt."

"What's your name, son?"

"R.J.. My name's R.J., Mister. Who are you?"

"I'm, Morgan, and… this young lady is Alicia." It was fleeting, but Morgan saw it. R.J.'s face relaxed a little because he recognized the name.

It's getting late and I need to get back."

"We can help you, R.J., it's what we do. We help people." Morgan knelt down and offered his hand to the young boy which R.J. took and Morgan pulled him to his feet once more.

"Can you help me to find some medicine?"

Morgan chuckled once more, "We can do better than that, son. We can take your mom back to our camp and our nurse will help her."

**...**

After the short drive back to the warehouse, as soon as the vehicle came to a stop, R.J. slid the side door and jumped from the van and ran towards the back door of the secluded building.

R.J. bolted to the center of the room and banked towards the right aisle. His mother was in the exact same spot where he left her sitting up against the wall. Her appearance was ragged, her eyes swollen shut. Her lips were covered in dried blood, split and swollen and her wrist exposed from her rolled-up sleeves were still raw and swollen from the restraints Logan's men used when they beat her up.

His mom didn't move she didn't make a sound. R.J. was afraid of what it could mean. _Was he too late?_ _It couldn't be, they had travelled this far to find the voice on the other end of the radio, the one who claimed to be his father. She had to be alive. _

R.J. still had not forgiven himself for being seen. It was how the found them. They followed him and his mother sacrificed herself for him. She had to live because he couldn't lose another parent.

"Mom? Mom wake up!" But Michonne didn't react. She remained non-responsive. Her body was hot to the touch which was something. R.J. knelt closer to his mother, his neck perilously near her mouth as he listened to her breath. It was extremely low and laboured.

"Mom, please wake up" he cried as the tears spilled from his eyes, "I found help."

**In order to bring stories to the Richonne fandom, we writers also need your written support, so please don't forget to leave a review in the box below. Much appreciated thanks. #KeepRichonneAlive**


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